Migration and Life … On Hold!

Year 5,

Lake Superior added ice last week! The big lake never adds ice in late March. This time of year is when the first hints of spring are supposed to appear in the Northland. North Shore streams and rivers are supposed to open up and have huge amounts of water cascading down the hills to Lake Superior. Early arriving ducks are supposed to gather at the mouths of streams and feast on fish preparing for spring spawning runs. Instead we have more ice on the “Big Lake” and over a foot of snow in the deep woods. Over the past few days God threw in 25+ mph winds and birding was not pretty … actually almost impossible. Smart birds, even the early migrants, are staying hundreds of miles south of the Arctic Riviera.

Life is also on hold. The Hoeg family awaits the arrival of a new child … our fifth grandchild. My wife (not to mention my daughter!) is at wit’s end. Spring means new life, and soon both birds and baby will make appearances! In the meantime, I enjoy the fruits of my bird feeders. While it is winter everywhere else in my neighborhood, my six feeders insure our forested yard if filled with bird song and color! I am not the Selfish Giant (Oscar Wilde’s children’s book)!

Yesterday afternoon I enjoyed some time with my pileated woodpeckers (female pictured). I think I may have discovered the hole the happy couple intend to use for a nest. Regardless, both the male and female Pileated Woodpeckers let me get real close as I am the “food guy”. They regularly visit my suet feeders. I think a good stiff wind will soon blow over this dead birch given their excavations.

If one knows where and when to look, color is everywhere in this land of black and white. I found God finger painting before sunrise this Sunday morning … Canal Park on Lake Superior.

Davidson Windmill Milky Way

Year 5

In honor of my 62nd birthday (today) I decided to get up at 3:50 am and be out the door shortly after 4:00 am! My goal was to take advantage of the Milky Way core finally being back above the horizon. Here in the Northland the core disappears from the night sky in October. In early Spring the Milky Way crosses the southeastern sky. Given research I knew that I had a short window of opportunity to photograph the Milky Way with the Davidson Windmill lined up properly. As one moves towards Summer, the Milky Way moves to the south and southwest, and becomes more vertical to the zenith across the sky.

I determined all these facts by using PlanIt! for Photographers. This great little app, well worth the small amout of money I paid allows me to research and plan photographs in advance all over the world. In my case, this generally means the Lake Superior region, but it could be anywhere! I determined the sky would be dark without a moon with the Milky Way in the proper location relative to my vantage point and the windmill’s blades.

Here are my two images from this morning, followed by some screenshots I took within the app.

And my screenshots from my apps, which allowed me know the darkness of the night sky, the arc of the Milky Way, sunrise, moonrise and when true night darkness would end. The app allows me to move time forward or back in units as small as a few minutes.

Stoney Point Sunrise Ice

Year 5

I left home this morning a bit before 6:30. My goal was to find an owl or two before the morning sun pushed them deep into cover. However, the pre-dawn light was gorgeous and I quickly changed my tune. I slowy drove along Scenic 61 waiting for the sunrise to develop. In the end, I decided to enjoy some time at Stoney Point which is about 13 miles up the shore from near where I live. While the sunrise was pretty over Lake Superior, the light upon the ice as the sun started to come over the horizon was fantastic! I took this image as the sun was about 1/2 above the horizon … not yet truly up.